Not On This Night
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day 1240: After her fainting episode on the Sectionals stage, Unique is there to tend to Marley and make sure that she will be alright.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 59th cycle. Now cycle 60!_

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**"Not On This Night"  
Unique & Marley**

_A/N: This story and all stories for two weeks (days 1240-1253) are dedicated to  
a very dear and awesome friend on the occasion of her birthday ;) Here's to you, Anne!_

Marley Rose had been one of the greatest gifts Unique had gotten in transferring to McKinley High. The girl was the greatest friend she could have hoped to find. So to have her drop to the ground right there on stage, dead to the world, was as big of a shock as she could have. She hadn't even seen it happen, in the madness of the applause, the music, and the shower of ticker tape… It was only when she'd turned and saw how the others were moving to one side of the stage that she had started to make out their voices, calling for Marley. She had finally caught a glimpse of her, and it felt like someone had punched her in the stomach.

In the immediate aftermath, she couldn't care less about what had happened to Sectionals, to the Glee Club itself. She probably would, later, but at this very moment those things mattered to Unique about as much as a plastic bag. For now all that mattered was that her friend would be alright.

For Marley it wasn't so easy to toss aside what her accident had done to the rest of them and their club. If it wasn't bad enough that she would feel bad from fainting, now she would feel bad for that, too.

There was no way she could let her go home on her own with that hanging over her head.

She had appealed straight to Marley's mother to allow her to sleep over that night, on the merit that as much as she would need her mother, there were things she was more likely to say to a friend right now, instead of a parent. With her approval acquired, she had gone to Marley to tell her.

"I'll be fine, you don't have to…" she had insisted, shaking her head. She still looked like she was barely skirting along consciousness sometimes.

"This is not about having to do anything. I am coming over there, because I want to, because you're my friend and that is where I need to be. You can argue all you like, but…"

"Fine," Marley cut in, thanking her with a small smile.

"That's better," Unique nodded, breathing out to put her arms around her. "You scared me to death, girl."

"I know. I'm sorry."

The whole way from McKinley to the Rose residence, not one of them had spoken. Marley stared out the window, forehead pressed to the window, her mother stared at the road, and Unique just kept an eye on her friend, in case she dropped again.

They had holed up in Marley's room as soon as they could, and the girl had curled up on her bed, pulling one pillow into her arms. Unique came to sit by her side, trying to see her face.

"She's going to be down there cooking already," Marley looked up at her.

"And she is going to watch you to make sure you eat all of it," Unique guessed.

"I didn't want it to be like this," Marley sighed, sitting up.

"What did you think was going to happen? Your body needs food, can't get around that. Cutting back is one thing, but you need something to fall back on, or else…"

"You'll fall on your back?" Marley finished for her.

"Well you did," Unique tried to shake the image out of her mind.

"I messed up everything," she tried not to cry. "I made everyone worried, and now with the Glee Club…"

"Forget about that, okay? Not tonight," Unique reached to push Marley's hair off her shoulders. "And your mother, she will get upset, but only because she loves you. We've got that in common," Unique smirked, and Marley bowed her head with a smile, leaning against her friend's shoulder. "Okay, now here's the deal. Tonight is a worry free night. We will not think about anything or anyone that makes us feel anything but happy, content… How's that sound?"

"Sounds really good, actually," Marley breathed out.

"First step is getting out of these dresses and into something that will fit with these plans of ours."

"How are you going to get PJs here?"

"Unique is always prepared," she nodded to her bag by the door. Marley laughed, and they got up to get changed.

Soon, as anticipated, dinner was served, watched over by Marley's mother. As hungry as the girl had to be, Unique could still see her hesitating. But she finished her plate, after which both of them were free to leave the kitchen. They had gone into the living room, where Unique had requested that she select the movie that left her the happiest.

"This one," she had picked a DVD out.

"Tearjerker," Unique shook her head.

"It's okay to cry sometimes," Marley pointed out. "And I do feel good after."

"Why don't we try something a bit more… uplifting. Better yet, something silly." She could see the thought flash across Marley's face, and she reached for another box.

"This one. It's my favorite one to watch with my mom," she explained. "Whenever it would play on TV, she would always watch it with me."

"Then maybe you should invite her to watch it with us," Unique suggested.

"I don't know, maybe with everything that happened I shouldn't…"

"Can't ignore her forever, or else she'll think that's exactly what you're doing."

"I'm not ignoring her," Marley insisted, then, "Maybe a little, but not because I don't want to be with her, I just…" she lowered her head.

"Marley, just go ask your mom to watch the movie with us," Unique told her, in a tone that said 'trust me.' She let out a breath, nodding to herself before moving to go find her mother.

Marley Rose was Unique's best friend. She made her feel better than most people did on a daily basis, and all she wanted for her was to know that she was loved, for being just the person that she was. Whatever was happening with her, Unique knew it wouldn't be fixed in one night. But everyone and everything had to start somewhere.

THE END

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******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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